If invoice is signed into legislation, Portugal would be part of a number of European international locations which have already got full or partial bans.
Revealed On 17 Oct 2025
Portugal has authorised a invoice to ban face veils used for “gender or spiritual motives” in most public areas that was proposed by the far-right Chega get together and targets burqas and niqabs worn by Muslim ladies.
Below the invoice, authorised by parliament on Friday, proposed fines for carrying face veils in public would vary from 200 to 4,000 euros ($234-$4,670). Forcing somebody to put on one could be punishable with jail phrases of as much as three years.
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Face veils would nonetheless be allowed in aeroplanes, diplomatic premises and locations of worship.
In keeping with native media stories, the invoice is now set to be mentioned within the parliamentary committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms, and Ensures – a physique chargeable for reviewing laws associated to constitutional issues.
If signed into legislation, it might put Portugal alongside European international locations, together with France, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, which have already got full or partial bans.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa might nonetheless veto the invoice or ship it to the Constitutional Court docket for checks.
Throughout Friday’s parliamentary session, Chega chief Andre Ventura was confronted by a number of feminine lawmakers from left-wing events who opposed the invoice, nevertheless it handed with help from the centre-right coalition.
“We’re at the moment defending feminine members of parliament, your daughters, our daughters, from having to make use of burqas on this nation at some point,” Ventura mentioned.
In a publish on X, he wrote: “Right now is a historic day for our democracy and for the safeguarding of our values, our identification and ladies’s rights.”
Andreia Neto, a lawmaker from the ruling Social Democratic Social gathering, mentioned earlier than the vote: “This can be a debate on equality between women and men. No girl must be compelled to veil her face.”
Two out of the ten events in parliament abstained from the vote – the Individuals-Animals-Nature get together, and the Collectively for the Individuals get together, in line with native media stories.
The events have advised that the proposal incited discrimination.
Solely a small minority of Muslim ladies in Europe cowl their faces, and in Portugal such veils are very uncommon.
However full-face coverings equivalent to niqabs and burqas have change into a polarising difficulty throughout Europe, with some arguing that they symbolise gender discrimination or can characterize a safety menace and must be outlawed.
